Benefits Of A Financial Plan

“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

ARE THERE BENEFITS to a financial plan?

A client came in recently to meet with us to address an area of their finances that was creating anxiety. They were not losing sleep over IF they could retire, they just didn’t fully understand the impact future decisions would have on their retirement. What if they lost their current job or walked away to do something different for less money?

Fear and anxiety were causing physical effects and made them feel even less certain. This is from someone who has always lived below their means and made wise financial decisions to stay out of debt. They were now concerned over one of their biggest decisions because of the uncertainty. Sitting down to capture their financial goals and set up a financial plan helped them find peace of mind.

WHY?
A FINANCIAL PLAN HELPS YOU FURTHER
DEFINE YOUR FINANCIAL GOALS.

Now with the market at all-time highs and cryptocurrency, more people are billionaires than ever before. I read how a young man had made a million and was going to retire for the rest of his life. Someone asked me if I thought he was crazy. I said I couldn’t maintain the quality of lifestyle on that amount for the plan that my wife and I developed, so I wished him good luck.

If you don’t want to work, what are you going to do with all that time? I spend more money on Saturdays than any other day of the week. What happens when every day becomes a Saturday?

Digging deeper into your financial goals will help you find out what you are really trying to accomplish and what is going to be important for you to ask yourself before you make that decision. Do you know all the questions to ask to uncover the facts so that you can weigh all the information you need to make that financial decision? This process is financial planning.

WRITING DOWN YOUR GOALS HELPS
WITH STAYING ON TRACK.

My wife and I would like to add-on to our current home. Neither of us is familiar with building codes, so we hired an architect to take our dreams and turn them into a physical structure. This structure is communicated in a series of drawings so that our dream can easily be completed by the contractors and helps everyone stay on track. Just like it is easier to erase a wall and move it before it is built, it is easier to see the impact of retiring early or how downshifting a career allows you to stay on track.

Having a plan is proven to help reduce stress but I think it is because all the uncertainties and possible outcomes have been discussed along the way. If you are needing a financial plan, we would be honored to help. Give us a call for a complimentary meeting. You can reach me at (817) 865-1811.

BY CLINT SNEAD, CFA® 
BOX FINANCIAL ADVISORS